Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney back in 2012 for $4.05bn (£2.5bn). “I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime,” Lucas said in a statement at the time.

Now, the first specific details of what Lucas would have done with the sequels has been found. Twitter user Livio Ramondelli spotted quotes from Lucas about the films in the companion book for the TV show James Cameron’s Story Of Science Fiction.

Lucas says that his vision for the next three Star Wars films – Episodes VII to IX – “were going to get into a microbiotic world. But there’s this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the ones who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force”.

He says he could have made the films had he kept onto the company. “Of course, a lot of the fans would have hated it, just like they did Phantom Menace and everything, but at least the whole story from beginning to end would be told,” he said.

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See the quotes below.

As far as I've seen, these are the first specifics George Lucas has shared about what his vision of Episodes 7-9 would have been. This comes from @insighteditions awesome companion book to "James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction series" on AMC: pic.twitter.com/Wtlw8zlrqv

As the first woman of colour to play a leading role in the franchise – playing mechanic Rose Trico – Tran was subject to a series of racist and sexist abuse.

“If you don’t like Star Wars or the characters understand that there are decisions makers and harassing the actors/ actresses will do nothing,” Boyega wrote on Twitter. “You’re not entitled to politeness when your approach is rude. Even if you paid for a ticket!”

He continued: “To the majority of Star Wars fans thank you for supporting and putting yourselves in our shoes. You understand that there is a process so much appreciated!”